Thursday, April 10, 2008

A (S)cowl To Keep Me Warm

I am nothing if not a bandwagon knitter. That Ravelry 'friend activity' button gets perhaps the most use of all the fun features, next of course to the 'Needlework on the Net' forum, which is just basically one giant train wreck after another ("Magknits is gone! Conspiracy Theory at 11!"). Yes, I am constantly in junior high lunchroom mode looking to see what everyone else is doing, and then doubting my own projects, and casting on for whatever my pals are working on. It's sad, but it's working for me, as it's brought me to the newest craze sweeping the knitting nation: the cowl!Specs:Pattern: The Dolores Park CowlYarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Indigo, one skein, two strands held together.Needles: Size 13 (that's what I'm talkin' about...)Cast on and finished in less than one day. I am doing my best to give La Frick a run for her money!I believe spring time is the perfect time of year to be sporting such a garment. The mornings are chilly and I must say that I have totally internalized the whole old world fear of having one's neck get cold in a 'courant d'air' or draft. So this baby is just perfect for me. And having Malabrigo around one's neck is just a little slice of heaven for this knitter! And the almost 13 year old wearing the (s)cowl agrees...The above pictures were taken in a special little sweet shop called La Cure Gourmande in Aigues-Mortes, in the South of France. We were able to visit the salt planes where most of the sea salt is harvested in France and see the Camargue region, perched between Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, a place that is known for its wild horses and herons. You can imagine that this store was complete sensory overload as it unabashedly yellow and orange and featured giant bins of every type of artisanal biscuit and cookie as well as chocolate covered olives (!?). Hard to believe that it was less than a week ago. *sigh*

29 comments:

I had never realized that there was a friend activity button on Ravelry and had always kind of wondered if there was a way to find out friends new activity without going through all my friends pages. I guess I wasn't curious enough because as soon as you said that I found it imediatly and it was right where you would think to look for it. So thanks for mentioning it. Now the only thing that I am really kind of hoping for is a way to find all of my favorite designers new patterns without going through there design page, maybe I should suggest it.

omg, chocolate covered olives?! yum-o! I have had some with jalepenos and garlic today - if I just had some of the chocolate variety...the photos in the store are gorgeous - what a beautfiul store... Your cowl is gorgeous - love the color! I too am always seeing what everyone else is doing - good for feeding the inspiration!:)

Great. I had no idea about the 'Needlework on the Net' forum. Another place for me to lose huge chunks of time... There is nothing wrong with bandwagon jumping, except maybe it makes you buy even more stash... Love that blue cowl!

That last montage has such amazing color. And all I need to see is the word 'biscuit,' and I just about lose my mind.

Pretty (s)coul! I'll have to check out that "friend" button. I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to Ravelry, and don't know half of what it can do for me (or maybe that's just a form of self-preservation so that I don't spend every.waking.hour.on.it).

Seeing your lovely market photo makes me totally jealous. I spent a glorious college semester in France (Universite de Caen) but have yet to get back. Soon, I hope... I have also had my eye on that very same cowl(can you say 'friend activity'). Come to think of it, I also have a skein of 'Paris Night' left over from my Thorpe binge and a kid home sick from school...

I loathe olives (a fact my many siblings exploited to no end while I was growing up: "You can go with us if you eat this olive..."), but I might be able to choke one down if it were covered in chocolate.

I went to paris last summer for the first time and I keep dreaming of it...if only I could go back. NOW. About the only food I cannot stand is olives, but I love chocolate, I have to wonder if this would make the olive more palatable to me? Great cowl. Looks warm and squishy,.

Great pictures!!! I love the cowl. It's on my list of projects that I need to do. Maybe one day I'll finally catch up. I can sure use one right now becasue the change in temperature is wild! I love the colors!!!

In two years, I hope to be heading to Paris. My mother is going to celebrate her 60th there. I can't wait!

Chocolate covered olives, bizzarro and intriguing. I ate balsamic vinegar ice cream once, it was disgusting. The shop photos are lovely and the cowl is gorgeous. Maybe that's what the Malabrigo in my stash would like to be.